Sludge vs. Sludge: Online
Thaler and Sunstein describe cookie notices that make acceptance easy and refusal burdensome. They call this sludge: friction that pushes users toward consent by making their preferred alternative harder to choose.
THE IDEA
Sludge vs. Sludge: Online
As we all spend an increasing proportion of our time online, people have justifiably become concerned about issues of privacy. What personal information are the websites we so often use collecting about us? Some of this information is collected using what are called cookies. These are files that remain on your browser and that record data about your use on that browser, such as browsing activity, purchases and preferences, geographical location, and the like. Usually, this information is used for targeted marketing.
The European Union regulates cookies through the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as through something called the ePrivacy Directive (or “Cookie Law”). These regulations include a bit of choice architecture: cookies can be installed only if the user has given active consent. Cookies that are “strictly necessary” to fulfill the services of a site are excluded from this requirement (for example, Amazon is allowed to use cookies for its shopping cart), but otherwise allowing cookies is an opt-in policy.
It is possible that this policy is a good idea, but if you have logged on to any website that is subject to this regulation, you have undoubtedly found yourself buried in sludge. The problem, as we see it, is that although you have to opt in to permit cookies, the alternatives are by no means clear. Based on our experiences, if you are using your phone or other mobile device and you log on to a new site, you are immediately shown a screen on which you can say yes or no to cookies. The problem comes when you say no. You are not then painlessly switched over to the article you were hoping to read. Instead, you are asked what appears to be an endless list of questions about cookies in a very small font. Neither of us has actually gotten through this process. We either give up and say yes to cookies or leave the site.
We do not appear to be the only ones acting this way. Researchers ran a study on how users react to the EU cookie consent notices in Germany. They found that websites use nudges to get users to consent (for example, highlighting the accept button or burying the non-accept button at the bottom of the page), and many do not even give users a choice.13 In a subsequent experiment, the researchers found that the positioning, wording, and design of the consent notices “substantially affect people’s consent behavior”—and that nudging had a strong effect on people’s choices. The study also found that only 0.1 percent of users would freely consent to be tracked by third parties if websites offered them a genuine informed opt-in choice. This is sludge, not nudge. At the time of this account, the authors reported that the EU was considering reforms and hoped they would better reflect users’ experiences.
When to use it
Regulatory compliance that inadvertently creates barriers for consumers (e.g., privacy settings, unsubscribe processes).
Subscription cancellation policies that require multiple steps or long calls.
Online account deletion processes that are hidden or require confirmation via email.
Choice of default options in software installations that are hard to change.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
EU Cookie Consent Experience
In the interfaces described by Thaler and Sunstein, accepting cookies takes one click while refusing them leads through small text and confusing options. The authors report sometimes consenting or leaving the site rather than completing that process.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
In what other areas of daily life do you encounter sludge—unnecessary friction that makes it hard to choose the option you actually prefer?
How might companies design consent forms that respect user autonomy while still collecting necessary data?
Often confused with
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Nudge The Final Edition (Richard H. Thaler Cass R. Sunstein)